This is one not to miss out on!! You will be able to see why I loved working with this couple so much and how Fraser always kept me entertained with his emails and calls.
How did you feel when you had to start looking for an engagement ring?
Pretty much in despair to be honest! Jen is far from an avid shopper nor is she an easy recipient of gifts – “too tight here!”, “Too loose there!”, “I love it but I don’t really like it!”, “Oh, it’s perfect apart from the size, shape, colour, purpose, look and feel!”. Truth be told I had already bought a ring knowing fine well it would be all of the above… It was! ‘Oh here we go!’ I thought, ‘Here we go’ indeed. Once we started looking and talking about it the little flutters of excitement tickled our bellies.
How did you hear about Stephanie Stevens Jewellery?
I would love to say we had been social media following fans for years, went to school together, dressed up as Salt-N-Pepa for St. Ives Hogmanay, and spent the summer months travelling and volunteering across the globe together but this would be a fabrication of the truth. We were on a Cornwallesian holiday as we love it down yonder (who doesn’t?) and wished to have a piece of your beautiful corner of the island to mark the proposal. A wee search on the internet led us immediately to you. Once we saw the wonders you were creating we were swooning. It only took one look and we were in.
Why was it important for you to have a bespoke ring?
It’s a once in a lifetime event to mark a lifetime together so let us mark this chapter with something personal, beautiful and and not from the bargain bin of Clair’s Accessories? Not that I am dissing on the shop – I contemplated getting my ear pierced in one of those shops as I fancied the girl who worked there when I was 15.
It was an opportunity to have something special, something unique, symbolic and a chance to support an independent business. Let the creative juices flow! Neither of us are aficionados of jewellery – Jen has some lovely pieces but it has never tickled me. This was an opportunity to create something for us.
Main reason you chose Stephanie to design and make your ring?
Your work is tremendous! It’s that simple.
What was it like receiving the photos of your ring being made and how did it make you feel?
It was a great wee journey, we never actually met in person but the process was so cool:
Here are some drawings of our idea.
Here it is in wax!
Ooooh – that’s nice! Please can you change that bit, that wee bit and that wee bit too?
Oh it doesn’t fit – here’s a picture of Jen’s finger and her knobbly pinky!
That’s better!
Oh no it’s broken!
Please can you change that, that and that wee bitty over there, not that bit the other bit?
Ahhh, we’re getting there!
Look at that photo!
Look at that one too!
It actually fits!
It was great fun bringing our idea to life. You made the journey extra special as nothing was any trouble, your diligence, care and craft made us feel cherished.
Your favourite part of the journey?
Cliche as it sounds – the whole journey was a wonderfully pleasurable experience. Possibly singling out two parts: Each time the postman brought a new parcel and when the finished article arrived. We had three proposals in total – lovely. Three rings, three different scenes, and the same answer each time!
Any tips you can give to partners looking for engagement rings?
Buy a surfboard instead, ermm I mean, go with your gut, heart, soul whatever that wee tickly feeling inside you that reassures you you’re on the right path. You won’t go wrong with that unless that feeling is a wet fart – that would be wrong.
Take your time. Enjoy the journey., Make it as beautiful as it can be.
Tell us about the proposal 🙂
Jen knew nothing of it!
Half a decade of courting, wooing, gallivanting, canoodling and Jen chasing me around everywhere I thought it best to make an honest lady of her!!! I said to my best friend, “mate, I’m going to do it!”, “what’s your plan?”, “I have a ring and that’s it!” “Classic Fras, no clue at all!”.
We were on a family holiday to mark Jen’s folk’s Ruby Wedding Anniversary and we had a lovely gaff in Porthtowan to mark the occasion. A blissful, easy 11 hour drive from the Scottish Highlands made more joyous when our exhaust fell off in the Lake District. Honk! An extra night and a few hours detour!
The big day arrived, Ken and Regine’s anniversary and I pondered as the sun crept onto the beach ‘hold on a minute laddie – that’s a bit of a thunder stealer, best save our day for another day’. A fitting opportunity? A memorable date? Filled hearts and healthy smiles but let’s leave that date to those special people! The next day I just wasn’t really digging – chilly and overcast even though where we live, overcast and chilly is a glorious summer’s day. The day after Cupid whispered ‘Pssst! That’s the arrow cocked!’
Everyone was sleeping, Jen’s nephew tucked up in bed after a morning chomp on the boob and the dogs had that dreamy look in their eyes going “come on, come on, come on, let’s go! Let’s go! Beach! Beach! Beach! I need a jobby – come on”. It was a stoater (beauty) of a morning and Jen was gently shoogled awake. I dug into the secret compartment of the van where the original ring was stashed and off we trotted. This ring dangled off my finger, ‘Shit! This is never fitting her dainty finger. No dramas, I have the receipt!’.
The beach was empty and the sun was already peeking up over the cliffs. Morning wash time, we frolicked into the waves and dunked under – it’s my favourite face of Jen’s – freshly dooked in water. I motioned to the sea floor “Oh look down there! What’s that?”, “What is it?” Off I dived clutching the ring in my hand before bursting through the surf. Now, I like to think I came up looking like Neptune, or at least some peely wally Jason Momoa, but in truth my comb over was draped on my face, watery snotters were drooping from my beak and I delicately planted my knee in the sand and started to panic – ‘oh no! Which finger is it? Where are my words? Breathe, breathe, got to breathe.’
Jen thought I was joking! To my delight, relief and astonishment she agreed with a gleeful “Oui!”. Amazing! The sparkle in her eyes, the smile on our faces and a sea salt encrusted romantic slobber with each other and as that happened Jen’s sister, brother-in-law and dad came down (this wasn’t planned) to share our special moment.
How does it feel now you have your dream ring?
We are delighted with it. We know it is perfect but Jen is beginning to open up a new chapter on the ring making journey.
What does your ring mean to you?
It’s shaped like a wave as we love the ocean. It represents the peaks and troughs that inevitably ensue through life and we will be riding them out together.
Any other comments?
If you are making a ring please don’t ask my fiancée to help! She was there throughout the whole process from idea conjuring, the to-ing and fro-ing of wax models, the discussions, the FaceTime sessions, the thinking, the alterations, the decisions, the whole entire process and now that we have our ring her peculiarity with symmetry has come to the fore:
“Frase”,
“Yes honeybunch”,
“The ring isn’t symmetrical!”,
“I know we designed it together”,
“I am struggling with the asymmetric-ness of it!”
Head in hands, hairline recedes further and a sigh of “deary me!”. The good thing is there are fresh symmetrical ideas going to come your way Stef! Jen will say that it is because we have decided to get a wedding ring as well as an engagement ring – we know the truth though.
And all the while I still don’t have the dream surfboard!
